Chapter 7.5

The video conference continued until the evening, but it was a miscalculation to think that Kwon Jeong-hyeok would focus solely on work.  

He frequently created breaks for himself to wander around the mansion, looking for her.  

“Why are you here? I told you to stay somewhere visible.”  

At that moment, she happened to be in the laundry room.  

“I was looking for the underwear you hid. So, where did you hide my underwear? Tell me now.”  

Of course, his crude pranks weren’t limited to the study. Like some woodcutter out of a fairy tale, he hid her underwear wherever he could find it.  

“If I give it back, will you leave?”  

Random, unrestrained hands wrapped around her body. He was the type of man who couldn’t be satisfied unless he pressed his body against hers, even if the lower half wasn’t an option.  

If she pushed him away, he clung back. Again and again, he stuck to her.  

Up until now, she thought it was just his uncontrollable l*st. But when she tilted her perspective slightly, he seemed anxious. Almost like a child with separation anxiety.  

Perhaps it was just her imagination. Or maybe it was because she had become slightly more sensitive after seeing what was inside the feminine wash.  

Inside the feminine wash was a note, wrapped in plastic. The content of the note read as follows:  

[This is Attorney Chu Seo-jin. With Tae Mari’s help, I’m delivering this note. Let’s meet in the backyard tonight. I know an important fact about your marriage that you must hear, Eun-sol.]  

She tried not to let the note bother her. She thought there was no need to even consider whether to meet Chu Seo-jin or not.  

After all, as long as Kwon Jeong-hyeok was wide awake and present in the house, there was no way she could sneak out to meet her ex-boyfriend in the middle of the night.  

Still, it lingered in her mind. What could this “important fact” possibly be?  

“Jeong-hyeok, are you working tonight as well?”  

“Yeah.”  

She asked while looking at the dinner he had prepared for her. He seemed really busy, as dinner was something simple—kimchi fried rice.  

From what she overheard during his meetings, it sounded like they were in the final stages of negotiations for a merger and acquisition memorandum of understanding or something similar.  

“I’ll be working through the night.”  

So that meant he’d be in the study even at night. Perhaps there might be a brief opportunity to meet Chu Seo-jin.  

‘But even so, is it really necessary to go?’  

She began to feel conflicted.  

“I’ll be working in the bedroom tonight.”  

He added that.  

As expected, she had no choice in the matter. At least, that’s what she thought at the time.  

***

The lighting in the bedroom was dim. Only the standing lamp by the door was turned on.  

Tap, tap, tap-  

The faint sound of him typing on the keyboard echoed through the room, illuminated by that single light.  

Eun-sol lay on the bed, staring at his back as he sat at the desk.  

‘Why does he insist on working here when he could just use the study?’  

No matter how she looked at it, the setup seemed far less comfortable than the study.  

‘Does he know that Chu Seo-jin is planning to come and is doing this on purpose?’  

However, he was not the type of man to stay still if he knew.  

Eun-sol lay down, pulling the blanket up to her eyes, lost in thought.  

‘Why is he going to such lengths, and what exactly does Chu Seo-jin want to tell me?’  

‘Is Chu Seo-jin really in the backyard?’  

Her attention kept drifting toward the window facing the backyard.  

It wasn’t that she wanted to meet Chu Seo-jin. The very idea of sneaking out to meet another man behind her husband’s back at this late hour made her uncomfortable.  

‘Still, I am curious about what he wants to tell me.’  

As her thoughts grew increasingly chaotic, she cautiously sat up from the bed.  

“Why?”  

His gaze, which she thought was fixed on the laptop, quickly landed on her.  

“I’m thirsty.”  

Conveniently, the mini fridge was located near the window. She thought she could use the excuse of getting water to sneak a glance out the window at the backyard. That way, she might be able to confirm whether or not Chu Seo-jin was actually there.  

“I’ll get it for you.”  

But he moved first. As he opened the fridge door and bent down, she craned her neck to peek out the window toward the backyard.  

From the bed, however, there was no way she could see anything.  

“Here, drink.”  

Before she knew it, he was standing beside the bed, holding out a bottle of water.  

“Oh… thank you….”  

In his other hand, he was holding an energy drink. It seemed like he had taken it out for himself. It was a foreign brand, one of the high-caffeine drinks she had noticed earlier in the basket of daily necessities that had arrived. It looked like he really intended to stay up all night working.  

‘But is it really okay for him to go more than a week without proper sleep? No matter how strong he is, this can’t be good for him….’  

She genuinely worried about him.  

She took the water bottle he handed her. She thought she should at least pretend to drink, though she wasn’t actually thirsty. She just sat there, holding the bottle absentmindedly.  

“Want me to help you drink it?”  

“No, I can…!”  

“I’ll help you.”  

At this point, why even ask?  

Oh, right. She had momentarily forgotten. When this man asked for her opinion, it wasn’t really to hear her answer—it was merely a notification. This kind of “asking” was the maximum level of consideration he could offer.  

He twisted the cap off the water bottle with a soft click.  

Her thighs twitched involuntarily.  

‘What’s wrong with me? Why does the sound of him opening a water bottle remind me of the sound of him unbuckling his pants?’  

She was baffled by her body’s reaction.  

“My sweet Sol-ah blushes just because I’m offering to help her drink water.”  

“That’s not it….”  

It wasn’t entirely wrong, so she couldn’t come up with much of an excuse.  

“Ah, fine.”  

He took a sip of water and gently grasped her chin.  

“Mm…”  

The lukewarm water flowed into her mouth through their deeply connected lips. The water tasted utterly bland compared to the depth of his scent.  

Gulp.  

The sound of her swallowing was embarrassingly loud. Some of the water she couldn’t swallow trickled down the side of her lips. He extended his red tongue and licked it up in one smooth motion.  

“……!”  

Her breath hitched involuntarily. As he looked at her flushed face, he murmured,  

“Should I have fed you something other than water, after all?”  

His soft, deliberate tone only heightened her embarrassment.  

“Sorry. I’m just too busy tonight.”  

“Who are you calling a s*x addict right now?”  

Who was the real addict here?  

He let out a quiet laugh.  

“I never said ‘s*x,’ though.”  

The sly curve of his lips was infuriatingly suggestive.  

“G-give me back the water bottle.”  

She snatched the water bottle from his hand. Suddenly, she felt parched. A thirst that wouldn’t be quenched even if she drank the entire bottle.  

She gulped down the water.  

“Drink slowly, or you’ll choke.”  

He waited until she finished the bottle and then took the empty bottle from her. The way he tucked her into bed and adjusted the blanket made him seem like a nanny caring for a young lady.  

He was always giving her the illness and then the cure—teasing her, only to treat her kindly afterward.  

“…Really… why do you do this to me?”  

She wasn’t expecting an answer. It was more of a grumble, a complaint muttered under her breath.  

“Because I love you.”  

The unexpected response made her heart jolt violently.  

The man before her had never said anything like that before. Not even a simple “I like you” or “I need you.”  

She stared at him blankly, as if in a trance.  

“…Why do you do this to me? Really….”  

He tormented her, teased her, and now he confessed.  

“So you won’t run away.”  

His tone was light, accompanied by a languid smile. This was his way of speaking—words that seemed like jokes but carried a hidden weight.  

“…Good night.”  

He turned off the bedside lamp on the nightstand and returned to his desk.  

She closed her eyes, but her heart pounded even louder. His voice echoed endlessly in her ears.  

The image of Chu Seo-jin in her mind faded significantly, replaced by the resounding memory of his confession.  

Either way, she couldn’t fall asleep.  

But then, had it been about 10 minutes? Or maybe 20?

The relentless sound of his keyboard suddenly came to a halt.  

“……?”  

She thought he was reviewing some documents, but no sound followed for quite some time.  

* * *

Outside Jeong-hyeok’s mansion, only the loud chirping of insects filled the backyard.  

Chu Seo-jin paced nervously near the rear garden.  

‘Let’s approach her calmly today.’  

During the last Taepyeong Group party, in his haste, he had shown Eun-sol an old photograph, which turned out to be a mistake. Thinking back to the startled look in her eyes when she saw the picture, he regretted it deeply.  

The photo had been taken at a charity event for underprivileged children during the year-end season.  

After much persistence, he had finally gotten Eun-sol’s permission to date her, but their relationship hadn’t progressed. If anything, it felt more awkward and distant.  

He was well aware that the feelings Eun-sol had for him were closer to respect than romantic affection.  

He also knew that Eun-sol felt positively toward him whenever he contributed to society or did good deeds.  

For now, he wanted to hold onto even that. That’s why he had taken her to the year-end charity event for underprivileged children.  

It was an event where funds were raised through talent donations, and he had asked a famous photographer who happened to be there to take their picture.  

At first, Eun-sol had declined, but when she learned that the payment for the photoshoot would go toward helping the children, she agreed to it.  

“Come on, what kind of pose is that for a couple? Attorney Chu, hold your girlfriend more affectionately. And you, miss, give us a brighter smile.”  

Thanks to the photographer’s talent for directing models, they ended up with a photo that made them look like a couple deeply in love.  

For Seo-jin, it was a memento of their first and last date—something he could never forget.  

‘In any case, today is my chance.’  

When Wooil Construction suddenly backed out of a merger and acquisition deal, the opportunity fell into Sowon Construction’s lap.  

The process of the merger had gained momentum, and once the major steps were finalized, Kwon Jeong-hyeok would return to his seaside mansion in Seoan County, Chungcheongnam-do.  

That would be a problem for Seo-jin. It would be nearly impossible to meet Eun-sol secretly in such a secluded, fortress-like mansion in a closed-off village where outsiders were conspicuous.  

Thus, he decided it was best to meet her quickly while she was still staying in the townhouse.  

With Tae Mari’s help, he disguised himself as a bathroom renovation worker to gain access to this place.  

After all, the darkest place is under the lamp.

He was about to meet Eun-sol at the closest proximity to Kwon Jeong-hyeok and at the moment when Kwon Jeong-hyeok was most off guard.